MEDIA CONTACT

CHANNELS

KEYWORDS

WHAT: American University experts are available to discuss a wide range of topics related to the tax reform proposed by President Trump and the GOP, including impacts on small business and women business owners, inequality and public opinion.

WHEN: December 18 – ongoing

WHERE: On campus, in-studio, via email, telephone or Skype

Experts Available:

David Barker, Director of American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, is a nationally recognized expert on campaigns/elections, public opinion, political information/misinformation, political polarization and political representation. His latest book is Representing Red and Blue: How the Culture War Changes the Way Citizens Speak and Politicians Listen. His new book, One Nation, Two Realities: Dueling Facts in American Democracy will be published in 2018. Prof. Barker can discuss political implications of the Tax Bill.

Caroline Bruckner is the managing director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center. In this capacity, she has testified before both U.S. House and Senate Congressional committees as well as the IRS, and recently released ground-breaking research on the tax compliance challenges of the small business owners powering the sharing economy as well as the tax challenges facing women entrepreneurs. Her latest research, “Billion Dollar Blind Spot: How the U.S. Tax Code's Small Business Expenditures Impact Women Business Owners,” examines the challenges women business owners face with the current tax code. She has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Fortune on tax issues and recently authored an article about the tax code’s impact on women entrepreneurs. Bruckner can discuss the implications of the bill on business owners, particularly small and women-owned businesses.

Mary Hansen, professor of economics at American University, is an expert in U.S. social policy, bankruptcy and economic history. She is widely published in these areas and is a prolific writer on historical labor market issues. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Institute for New Economic Thinking. She has been quoted or cited by news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Fortune, CNN, and The L.A. Times.

Bradley Hardy is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. He is available to discuss issues related to poverty policy, labor economics, economic instability, intergenerational mobility, and socio-economic outcomes. He is nonresident senior fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution.

Donald Williamson is the Howard S. Dvorkin Faculty Fellow and the executive director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center at American University. Williamson is also the director of the Masters in Taxation program at the Kogod School of Business at American University. He has written and served as a media expert on tax reform and how the current tax code impacts small businesses.

To secure an interview with any of these experts, please email AUMedia@american.com or call AU Communications at 202-885-5950.

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